OMAHA, Neb. — The narrative in the NBA for years has been that free agents don’t want to come to, or stay in, Denver. The Nuggets, though, point to a group of players who might be changing that perception. In the past couple of years Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari and Darrell Arthur all could have opted to take bigger money elsewhere or not sign a contract extension and made a player for bigger dollars on the free agent market.

Yet they all opted to stay.

Arthur made the decision to stay in each of the past two summers. This summer, he signed a three-year, $23 million contract with the Nuggets. He could have gotten more money elsewhere. The Spurs, Clippers and Wizards all were interested in him.

“I felt comfortable here,” he said, explaining his decision. “I felt comfortable with what we’ve got going. They asked me if I wanted to get traded last year at the trade deadline and I said ‘No, I like what we have going on.’ I could have gotten more money if I would have went somewhere else, but me and my wife we love it here, I love what’s going on and I love what we’re building with. So it was an easy decision.”

Nuggets coach Michael Malone raved about Arthur.

“He’s a guy that loves Denver,” Malone said. “He wants to be here. Free agency came around, he told his agents ‘Listen, get it done with Denver. I don’t even want to talk to anybody else.’ He left millions of dollars on the table because he believes in what we’re doing. That makes you feel really good because Darrell Arthur is about all the right things.”

Footnotes. Arthur (knee) worked on the side during the morning session of practice here Wednesday and is still hoping to get on the court midway through training camp. All other players have participated in all practices. … The Nuggets hosted coaches from Creighton and North Dakota at practice. “If they want to come in and watch practice and try and pick some things up, I think it’s only right to open it up and allow guys to come in,” Malone said. … The team celebrated Juancho Hernangomez’s 21st birthday with a cake.